Bill Hader's Barry And More Renewed At HBO

Bill Hader has received some excellent news. Well ahead of his new show's first season finale, HBO has renewed the actor's dark comedy series, Barry, for a second season. Hader's is not the only series to receive some good news though. HBO has also renewed another comedy. Before its fifth season even has a chance to conclude, the cable network has renewed the tech-centric series Silicon Valley for a sixth season. Here is what you need to know.

Barry, which is in the midst of its freshman season, is the co-creation of Bill Hader and Alec Berg, who also produces Silicon Valley. Barry is currently three episodes into its eight-episode season. Not even halfway through its debut, HBO is already doubling down on the dramedy. It is a definite sign of the network's faith in the series. Barry premiered at the end of March to rave reviews from critics. HBO made no mention of a reduced episode order, so barring any surprises, the second season of Barry could very well also consist of eight episodes. If fans are lucky, perhaps HBO will order even more episodes than just the eight.

Barry stars Bill Hader, whose co-stars include Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, and Henry Winkler, among others. The dark comedy revolves around the titular Barry, a hitman from the Midwest, who is commissioned by the mob to kill a man all the way in Los Angeles. When he takes the job, he is inadvertently swept into the acting world, which it turns out he prefers to his current means of employment. While Barry deals in darker tones, its fellow renewed comedy does not.

Now in its fifth season, Silicon Valley is a veteran series at this point. Since its debut in 2014, the show has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards, and it is ranked #165 on IMDB's user-generated list of the site's Top-Rated TV series. The series chronicles the antics of the founding members of a tech startup in--you guessed it--Silicon Valley. The series has oscillated between 8 and 10 episode seasons. Its currently-airing season will run for 8, which may or may not mean Season 6 will too.

For a network known for prestige dramas like Game of Thrones and The Sopranos, HBO is also showing strong confidence in its comedy lineup. Without either Barry or Silicon Valley having finished their current seasons, HBO has given the green light for both series to continue. It is pretty obvious the network is impressed with what it has seen from each show so far this year.

The next episode of Barry, entitled "Chapter Four: Commit...To You," is set to premiere April 15. Silicon Valley will also air its fourth episode ("Tech Evangelist") on April 15. Both series will conclude their respective seasons on May 13. To find out what else HBO has in store, check out our guides to TV's midseason and summer premieres.